It was undeniably not only the best match of the year but one of the best matches Ireland have ever played. But after 80 minutes of thrilling rugby, beautifully conducted by Nigel Owens, the end result is always the same, the All Blacks win. Yes they are the first international team in rugby history to not lose for a whole year; yes they have not lost in 14 matches and yes they can be described as the best team of all time, but they very nearly came crashing down this afternoon.
With everyone not even doubting an All Blacks win, even the Irish coach himself saying they needed the good luck offered to him by the interviewer before the match; I spent the week being told that my gut feeling about Ireland winning was the most ridiculous thing anyone had ever heard. Needless to say I am now expecting a fair few apologises.
To be fair all the statistics were completely in New Zealand’s favour; they have never lost to Ireland and the last time the two teams met, the Irish were beaten 60-0. The Kiwis were probably already thinking about the Guinness they would be drinking to celebrate, before they even walked onto the pitch.
It all started with a powerfully led try from the Irish team after only 4 minutes of play and after the whole Aviva held their breath for what seemed like a life time, whilst the TMO decided to award the try.
We only had to wait another 5 minutes to see a second beautifully made try which gave Ireland a 14-0 lead. Yes you did read that correctly. And if that wasn’t enough, a perfect interception from the 22nd meter line by Rob Kearny followed by a sprint all the way to the try line, gave Ireland a 19-0 lead. I have to say at that point I had goose bumps all over. It was simply mind blowing. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before New Zealand were to react and sure enough Aaron Cruden’s magical kick got the All Blacks back into the game.
Just before half time we witnessed something very rare, worry in Richie McCaw’s eyes. It’s not every day his team are out classed for a whole 40 minutes. But the All Blacks could simply not let themselves be humiliated and did what they had to do. With 15 minutes to go, Ireland were desperately clinging on to their 5 point lead as if their life depended on it. Johnathon Sexton’s missed penalty in the last six minutes will leave him with nightmares for an extremely long time.
As the clock went over the 80 minute mark and the ball was in New Zealand hands, I was having mini heart attacks every time a player ran more than a few meters without being tackled. The All Blacks swept the pitch from side to side, stretching out the Irish defence just enough to score the try that brought the whole stadium back down to earth- the Kiwis were now one conversion away from victory. And what a conversion it was. New Zealand’s fate was in the hands of Aaron Cruden, who got a second chance as the Irish players charged too soon. In kicking that ball through the posts he proved once and for all that he is a worthy replacement of the legendary Dan Carter giving the All Blacks a 22-24 win. Sometimes things are just not meant to be, but as Sir Clive Woodward rightly pointed out, the Irish have shown the world that this New Zealand team are not unbeatable.
So there we had it. The All Blacks let out a sigh of relief, celebrating as if they had just won the World Cup, while the Irish were left teary and distraught, acknowledging that they had just come so close to making history. If Ireland play anything like they did today during the Six Nations, we will be witnessing some magnificent rugby; let’s just hope today’s psychological scars will be healed by then.
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Main Photo Credit: Paul Mohan via Photopic.com
